# I'd LIKE to make you some coffee, but my subscription lapsed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [April 13, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379 "2017-04-13T14:19:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/1 "2017-04-13T14:19:42Z")
Apparently there is this useful kitchen appliance put out by Anova that allows you to control their sous vide cooker via telephone-pretty convenient, if you ask me. Recently, however, they updated the software [making it mandatory for users of their product to create an online account and hand over personal information.](https://consumerist.com/2017/04/12/anova-ticks-off-customers-by-requiring-mandatory-accounts-to-cook-food/) This is equipment customers own, not lease, and there was nothing posted inside or outside the box indicating that the manufacturer retains the right to do anything like this. WTF? Does this seem at all strange/wrong to anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/2 "2017-04-13T14:25:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Apparently there is this useful kitchen appliance put out by Anova that allows you to control their sous vide cooker via telephone-pretty convenient, if you ask me. Recently, however, they updated the software [making it mandatory for users of their product to create an online account and hand over personal information.](https://consumerist.com/2017/04/12/anova-ticks-off-customers-by-requiring-mandatory-accounts-to-cook-food/) This is equipment customers own, not lease, and there was nothing posted inside or outside the box indicating that the manufacturer retains the right to do anything like this. WTF? Does this seem at all strange/wrong to anyone else? Seiously, isn’t this known as “Bait and Trap” in the marketing world? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/3 "2017-04-13T14:32:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Seiously, isn’t this known as “Bait and Trap” in the marketing world? :dubious: I don’t know-has this ever been pulled before? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/4 "2017-04-13T14:34:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t know-has this ever been pulled before? It’s happened to me numerous times, most notably with my (former) cell phone service. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/5 "2017-04-13T14:45:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It’s happened to me numerous times, most notably with my (former) cell phone service. You had a product that required no subscription and gave no indication that the company retained the rights to change the terms and yet without your knowledge and permission updated the device, rendering it useless unless you subscribed and handed over personal info? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/6 "2017-04-13T14:50:44Z")
I own an Anova sous vide cooker, which I purchased the day they went live. A chef friend has three that he pre-purchased via the kickstarter. I _love_ mine. If my unit failed tomorrow, I’d order a replacement the same day. The app is cute, but I’ve never bothered with it. The cooker works fine without Bluetooth or WiFi control. Many companies charge for their apps, this is just another monetization approach. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/7 "2017-04-13T14:52:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You had a product that required no subscription and gave no indication that the company retained the rights to change the terms and yet without your knowledge and permission updated the device, rendering it useless unless you subscribed and handed over personal info? I had to sign up for it in the beginning, of course. But less than a year later, they changed the terms of service without warning and required me to buy a new phone. I didn’t even bother renewing the service. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/8 "2017-04-13T14:56:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I own an Anova sous vide cooker, which I purchased the day they went live. A chef friend has three that he pre-purchased via the kickstarter. I _love_ mine. If my unit failed tomorrow, I’d order a replacement the same day. > > The app is cute, but I’ve never bothered with it. The cooker works fine without Bluetooth or WiFi control. Many companies charge for their apps, this is just another monetization approach. You didn’t buy it for that remote feature, but many others did. If you had bought it specifically because you could program/operate it remotely, how do you think you would have felt about this development? ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/9 "2017-04-13T15:07:36Z")
(this post has been deleted by the Deletionist) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/10 "2017-04-13T15:12:06Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > Strange and wrong to me, especially if I’m reading the article right and you can’t even use the cooker manually without the app. I’ve never heard of an appliance where you couldn’t at least use it by pushing the buttons on the item itself. Apparently, if you never use the app and never let it connect it to your phone you can use it manually for now, but if you let it update you are shit out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/11 "2017-04-13T15:22:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You didn’t buy it for that remote feature, but many others did. If you had bought it specifically because you could program/operate it remotely, how do you think you would have felt about this development? I cannot think of a reason to use the “remote feature” of the app/cooker, which makes it difficult to consider your hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/12 "2017-04-13T15:31:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t know-has this ever been pulled before? I haven’t heard of anything else in this vein, but it seems like a continuation of a trend to me: sites that used to be free to read now behind a paywall or requiring a registered account, video game DLC where the content is right on the physical disk/cartridge you already paid for but can’t unlock without paying up, nonsense like the Keurig 2.0 which only works with (expensive) branded k-cups and sneers at your (less expensive) off-brand ones. At least Anova isn’t charging for their app. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/13 "2017-04-13T15:41:24Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > At least Anova isn’t charging for their app. Yet. They may not have to if there is a market for the info people have to fork over to subscribe. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/14 "2017-04-13T16:18:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Apparently, if you never use the app and never let it connect it to your phone you can use it manually for now, but if you let it update you are shit out of luck. That’s incorrect. The cooker does not require the app connection to use, so even if it was previously connected, doesn’t mean you have to stay connected to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/15 "2017-04-13T16:27:45Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Seiously, isn’t this known as “Bait and Trap” in the marketing world? :dubious: > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t know-has this ever been pulled before? [John Deere told the Copyright Office that farmers don’t own their own tractors](https://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/) > [@](#): > > It’s official: John Deere and General Motors want to eviscerate the notion of ownership. Sure, we pay for their vehicles. But we don’t own them. Not according to their corporate lawyers, anyway. > > In a particularly spectacular display of corporate delusion, John Deere—the world’s largest agricultural machinery maker —told the Copyright Office that farmers don’t own their tractors. Because computer code snakes through the DNA of modern tractors, farmers receive “an implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.” > > It’s John Deere’s tractor, folks. You’re just driving it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-make-you-some-coffee-but-my-subscription-lapsed/784379/16 "2017-04-13T17:25:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [John Deere told the Copyright Office that farmers don’t own their own tractors](https://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/) Our Kubota lawn tractor has similar issues. We rigged a bypass for the safety mechanisms that make the machine a pain in the ass to operate. When we took it to the dealer for repairs, they disassembled the bypass, rewired the safety mechanisms, and _charged us for the parts and labor._ They said that was their policy. Period. So, when I got it back I rewired the bypass. Kubota will never see our tractor again, and I’ll never buy that brand in the future.